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A MONTH OF SUNSPOTS:
February 2010 is on the verge of a three-year
"first." It's the first month since January 2007
with sunspots every single day. It's been a long solar minimum,
but solar activity is on the rise again. Today, NASA's STEREO
mission is tracking at least six active regions around the
circumference of the sun. Check them out on the 3D
Sun.
MARTIAN CONJUNCTION:
Last night's conjunction of Mars and the
Moon was so big and bright, anyone could see it--no telescope
required. A telescope could still come in handy, though. It
made nice scenery for the photo-op:
Tamas Ladanyi took the picture from his backyard
in Veszprem, Hungary. "As a matter of fact," he
says, "I was putting my telescope to good use. It was
scanning the Moon." He video-recorded the scan using
a Canon EOS 500D; click
here to watch the movie he calls Moonwalk.
In case you missed it, another Moon-Mars conjunction
is less than a month away. On March 24th, the two worlds will
gather together only 5o apart. Reminder calls may be
had from Spaceweather
PHONE.
more images: from
Nazanin Beyzaie of Sydney, Australia; from
P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from
Mark Arzadon of San Jacinto, Pangasinan, Philippines;
from M. Raşid Tuğral of Ankara, Turkey; from
P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden;
SOUTH POLE SUN HALO:
It's a fact: You're more likely to see a sun
halo if the sun is up 24 hours a day. Such is the case
at the South Pole where Cody
Lee Meyer took this picture on Feb. 26th:
"The autumnal equinox is coming up for folks living
at the South Pole Station (90 S latitude)," says Meyer.
"We are blessed to witness sun shows nearly every day
as the sun hangs around 9.3 degrees above the horizon and
ice lingers in the sky."
Of course, you don't have to be at the South Pole
to see a sun halo. Click on the links for examples:
from
Mustafa Erol of Antalya/Turkey; from
Jose R Gonzalez of Miami, Florida; from
Paul Osimo of Providence, Rhode Island; from
Teresa Hernandez of Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires, Argentina;
from
Monika Landy-Gyebnar of Veszprem, Hungary; from
Michael Boschat of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada;
February
Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Februarys: 2009,
2008, 2007,
2006, 2004,
2003, 2002] |
